RE: Theists: how do you account for psychopaths?
May 23, 2018 at 11:41 am
(This post was last modified: May 23, 2018 at 11:50 am by robvalue.)
Sure, you could call a psychopath's code of conduct their morality. It would be at the absolute extreme end of the scale, being pure self-centered pragmatism. So if that is the morality God gave them, then he wants certain people to not take anyone else's feelings or wellbeing into account when making decisions. It would be, as you pointed out, vastly different to almost everyone else's morality.
Now, there could be a pragmatic reason for God to do that, of course. Not one that makes sense to me, since God needing to be pragmatic implies he has actual obstacles to overcome. That in turn implies he either put them there himself or allows others to.
PS: the important point is that someone can't choose to not be a psychopath, any more than we can choose to become a psychopath. I imagine that one could chip away at one's morality over time, or be massively abused or brainwashed, and end up similar to a psychopath. But I expect nothing short of some sort of brain surgery could alter a psychopath.
PPS: I forgot that Drich has no problem with God being a monster, and so allowing Satan to make psycopaths (or whatever he was talking about) is not an issue.
Now, there could be a pragmatic reason for God to do that, of course. Not one that makes sense to me, since God needing to be pragmatic implies he has actual obstacles to overcome. That in turn implies he either put them there himself or allows others to.
PS: the important point is that someone can't choose to not be a psychopath, any more than we can choose to become a psychopath. I imagine that one could chip away at one's morality over time, or be massively abused or brainwashed, and end up similar to a psychopath. But I expect nothing short of some sort of brain surgery could alter a psychopath.
PPS: I forgot that Drich has no problem with God being a monster, and so allowing Satan to make psycopaths (or whatever he was talking about) is not an issue.
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